Have you ever locked eyes with a porcelain doll on a shelf and instantly felt a chill crawl up your spine? If so, you’re not alone — and horror icon Stephen King would probably agree with you. Dolls have long been the stuff of nightmares in King’s world, from murderous clowns to animated Army men with a vendetta.
King’s fear of dolls is well-documented across his work. In “Poltergeist,” which he helped write for the screen, a young boy’s fear of a clown doll turns disturbingly real when the toy attacks. In “The X-Files,” King penned an episode centered around a haunted doll, and one of the darkest vignettes in his “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” series features actor William Hurt being hunted by vindictive toys — tiny green Army men that eventually bring about his demise.
So what would happen if someone mailed Stephen King one of artist Beth Robinson’s Strange Dolls? It might be enough to send even the master of horror over the edge.
Beth Robinson, a Vermont-based artist, has been crafting her eerie handmade dolls since 2003. Her creations, known as Strange Dolls, are misproportioned, eerily dressed, and possess unsettling personalities that are more nightmare than nursery. Each doll has its own backstory and character, making them more like gothic art pieces than playthings.
According to Robinson’s website, Strange Dolls are not child-friendly or toy store appropriate. These haunting little figures are designed to provoke thought — and maybe even a little fear. They’ve appeared in art galleries around the world, and Robinson has crafted more than 300 of them.
Robinson was kind enough to let me feature some of her dolls on my site, and I must say, they’re the perfect blend of creepy and beautiful. Some people may even find them charming in a twisted way. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder — just maybe not the same beholder who checks under the bed at night.
So if you’ve ever had lingering doll-induced nightmares thanks to Stephen King, perhaps now’s your chance to return the favor. Wrap up a Strange Doll, send it his way, and see how the king of fear handles a dose of his own medicine.
I think we now know what to get you for your birthday.
I’ve never had a big issue with dolls, although I did know this guy once who was really afraid of clowns. However, I’m not sure I would trust one of these Strange Dolls to remain on a shelf while I was sleeping.
You are much more beautiful than your dolls.
Well thanks. But I’m not sure that’s much of a compliment, considering how strange the Strange Dolls truly look.
That’s a funny exchange. Maybe you should pull a ‘Britney’ and see what anonymous thinks then.One of the scariest original Dr. Who episodes featured a child’s doll that came to life and murdered people. Many parents complained about it being too realistic.
I also saw a really bad episode of “The Twilight Zone” or a similar show recently with Jessica Simpson starring as a baby sitter who is attacked by a little girl’s dolls and transformed into one. Like I said, it was a really bad episode.